AOTS: Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights

Put early Radiohead and Joy Division in a blender, whiz it up with some crushed velvet and an abandoned cityscape, and you've got Interpol. They're a band with a strangely massive sound - not stadium-expansive, but instead straining against the walls of a small club. They're a band with a sound suited to the dark, a dark filled with insomnia and expensive hi-fi. Listen to them through the best headphones you can find, and loose yourself in the moodiness, the gloom and weird freedom of asking where did it all go wrong? It's a beautiful sound. It's got all the warmth of the dim light at four in the morning, the loneliness of being the only one awake, the exhaustion of still getting on with life after a night lying awake. It's a comforting sound, interesting enough to hold your attention, but still has that kind of vague monotony you could fall asleep to if you wanted to. It's a simultaneously strong and delicate album, beautiful to listen to once, but endlessly rewarding if you have the time.

8.9/10


Mollx

SOTW: Face Parade, Child Bite

For a band called Child Bite, the amount of death metal in Face Parade is pitiful. Non-existent, in fact. Instead it sounds like The Shins-meet-Sunset-Rubdown, having been introduced by Roxy Music. It's a song that can't really seem to settle - the sound rises and falls, glam one minute and synth-pop the next. It's a strange song, on first listen sounding uncertain, but the more you hear it the more confident it grows, until it dares you to dislike it.

7/10


Mollx

The Eric Club

Did you hear Eric's Club in Liverpool is reopening? Heartwarming, even though it's OMD that are behind it. 

I like this song, very, very much. Always have. Anyway, I'm led to believe that's Eric Burdon on vocals.

No prizes for guessing this Eric. 

Woah! What is this, 60's/70's rock day?

Mollx

A Midweek Addiction Update II

So, again, just some tracks I've been really loving this past fortnight:


Something in the same kind of vein happened with Chapel Club's Surfacing - Ok at first, but the more you hear it the more you like it until it comes on and you yell "I LOVE THIS SONG!!!"

I really want to like the Pixies. I've never though much of them (probably because I was expecting something harsher) but I'm actually liking Frank Black. I should give his band another go.

I've always really liked this song, but I never paid attention to what it was or who played it until now.

Mollx

P.S. I just looked up Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies, and found out that I am in the same situation I was in with Lloyd Cole an't Commotions.

Curses. Where have I been, eh? Crazytown?

Label Day: Kill Rock Stars

I'm surprised I haven't done this one yet.

I think this might be how Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory might be if he embarked on a alternative rock project.

This is really good. Dirty, heavy guitars and one of those awesome basslines I like so much, with Warpaint-esque vocals. Absolutely gorgeous.

Smudgy, muted rock. Good stuff.

Mollx

(A Tribute) Music Monday

You'll have probably heard by now about the sad death of Amy Winehouse. I can't say I'm a fan of her music particularly, but she did have a lot of talent, and that's how we should remember her.

A great live performance

One of my favourite of hers
And one that I think is one of her best

Mollx

AOTS: Various Artists, Newermind

Free with SPIN magazine, Newermind is a cover of Nirvana's Nevermind with contributions from various alternative bands/artists, from Meat Puppets to EMA. Smells Like Teen Spirit is Meat Puppets' chosen track, and keeps pretty close to the original, only with an acoustic guitar and a helluva lot more gravel. In Bloom is a lot more playful than the original, with a bit of a glam-rock shimmer lightening the heart of the song but still holding onto the ironic lyrics. The second most recognisable track from Nevermind, Come As You Are, is twisted into an electronic, auto-tuned, spooky monster by Midnight Juggarnauts. Again, Titus Andronicus have stayed faithful - it's not bad, just a little forgettable. The Vaselines' Lithium is more chilled, loosing the intensity but adding a slight haunting detachment. The vocal intertwining at the bridge lifts it a little, but even still it falls flat. Drain You, courtesy of Foxy Shazam, is, like Come As You Are, adventurous, but slightly more likeable since it keeps the dynamics of the song but shifts the genre several points closer to "Weird". Jessica Lea Mayfield's Lounge Act is as haunting as hell, filling every word with venom and feedback.

The main thing that strikes me when listening to this is how good the songs are. Not the new renditions, but the originals. Nevermind isn't my favourite Nirvana album, and it never will be, but it's only when you hear them in another context that you really appreciate them. And simarlarly it's when this collection loosens up and is as creative as they were that it really shines.

6/10


Mollx

SOTW: See My Evil, Tom Williams And The Boat

"Rock'n'roll stomp" is a phrase journalists often use when the only thing to recommend a song is a certain T-Rex influence. And yes, See My Evil does have a rock'n'roll stomp. It also has slightly awkward narrative lyrics, a driving beat, feedback drenched guitars, and a singer on the edge of a breakdown howling about lies, psychiatrists, and MPs. It's awesome, scary, and painful. But in a really, really good way.

8/10

A five track EP is also now available (containing See My Evil) for free from the Team Love Library, and the song on its own is also free from the band's website.

Mollx

Late Label Day: Dot Dash

I was sitting in the office chair, relaxing after finishing my college (high school, I think, to my dear American readers) admission letter, and it suddenly struck me. I haven't done Label Day this week. And given how disappointing the nominations were, I really shouldn't have bothered doing the Mercury Prize post instead. Or maybe I should have done both. Anyway, it's late, but it's here now, so stop pulling that face.

Mellow, dreamy alternative pop. Quite Yuck-esque if you want a comparison.

Pulsing bassline? Check. Synth? Check. Damn good? Check.

Cool drumming, cool bassline (again). Good song, but you'll do your throat in if you keep yelling like that, lassie.

Mollx

The Mercury Music Prize, A Sequel

So, who should have been on the list, eh?

First up I have grunge-pop lovelies Yuck, with Georgia.

I'm trying to convince myself to buy their new album, whilst also trying to convince myself that it's ok to buy the expanded High Violet for twelve quid when there are only five new tracks on it. Only one's going to make it out alive. Anyway, Arctic Monkeys, Brick By Brick

And I really do think Tinie Tempah should win. I mean, come on, he's genius!

Mollx

The Mercury Music Prize

Well, I can't say I'm very impressed with this here shortlist. Adele's there of course, Elbow's there (not so bad), and then...Tinie Tempah's there too. sehndcjshiusehydfuweyui. (sorry, my head just hi-fived the keyboard).

Anyway, something to help you keep the faith.

I really like this. I wouldn't mind if they won. King Creosote And Jon Hopkins, Your Young Voice

Bit of a genre-shift here. It sounds really good. Ghostpoet, Us Against Whatever

I wouldn't mind if this won either. Metronomy, The Bay

Mollx

The Mercury Music Prize, A Prequel

The shortlist for the Mercury is being released tomorrow. I'm not particularly excited. But anyhows, some of the people who may or may not get a mention.

Oi, you there. You with the fx pedal listening to the 'Floyd. You'll like this. Alexander Tucker, His Arm Has Grown Long

I don't think this is as good as Hunger, but then it is a really great song. Frankie And The Heartstrings, Tender

If this doesn't get a mention, I'll be really, really surprised. Tom Vek, World Of Doubt

See you tomorrow with the results!

Mollx

AOTS: Matthew Sawyer And The Ghosts, How Snakes Eat

I bought this album for a pound in Manchester's Vinyl Exchange, just because of the artwork. I wasn't expecting much, which is a good thing I suppose, since I don't think I could have predicted just what this album contains. It's edgy, quirky, alternative rock that manages to sound exclusive, as if it was yours and yours only, while being strangely accessible. It might sound like a simple folk-rock record from the opening notes of Mynah Bird's Call, but it's a lot more than that. The rhythms are familiar yet strange, the creepy choir making it sound like some surreal, nightmarish Red Riding Hood. Strings lurk behind you, forcing you into the relative safety of acoustic guitar. The false applause in To Pour Like English Taps grates somewhat, but sarcastic self-congratulation aside, it's a lovely track. Caroline appears to have been recorded in the company of monks, and is all the better for it. To be honest, though, the arty construction and layered instrumentation make you long for something simpler, rawer. Chicory, in that sense, comes a few tracks too late, but now it's offered you're more than grateful. 

It's very ornate, very English, very enchanting. No, Sawyer's voice isn't the most polished of voices.

But neither is Dylan's, and look what happened there. 

Money, Money, Money

I hope this post hits the spot, because I've had to pull myself away from Sky Arts coverage of The National's headline set at Latitude.

Anyway, I've heard that that £161 million Euromillions or whatever has been claimed. Lucky sods. (That's a joke)

Patti Smith just wins. At everything. Patti Smith, Free Money

Another fitting classic. The Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want

Quite like this, although rather commercial sounding. Cheap Trick, Taxman, Mr Theif

Mollx

THE LIST, Part The Fifth

Time for another instalment, don't you think?

One of those mildly pouty, 90's alt. bands that take a fair bit from Pixies, but don't take quite enough from Fang to make them grunge. Slowdown Virginia, Supernova '75

*looks ashamedly at the floor* No, I don't know the music of The Libertines very well. Hey, don't look at me like that! I'm fixing it! The Libs, Can't Stand Me Now

You watch, now that they've broken up, I'll get frighteningly addicted to them. Rilo Kiley, Wires And Waves

Mollx

Subversion Central

You know what you do before school ends? Rebel, of course!

I've posted this before. But just imagine listening to this while walking down the corridors acting like you own the place. Bikini Kill, Rebel Girl

I would like to dedicate this song to Simon Cowell. Fang, The Money Will Roll Right In

And how can you have a play-it-loud-and-annoy-the-hell-out-of-EVERYONE-but-who-cares post without this gem? Damn, now I wanna watch School Of Rock again.

Mollx

Label Day: Merge Records

I'm doing Merge today for one reason and one reason only.

This. Lyrically gorgeous, understated, and boy-girl duet done so well it knocks the pretenders for six. Even the St Vincent/National cover can't beat it.

It's rare that a band with a bassist, two guitarists, a drummer, a keyboardist, and a singer sound minimalistic. It's not as if each instrument doesn't try and take the spotlight, but they seem to know when to shut the hell up and let that killer bassline breathe. White Whale, What's An Ocean For

And now it's the drums that want a bit of space. Alright by me! Telekinesis, Tokyo

Mollx

Song Of The Week

I had my iPod on over the stereo this morning, and this little gem popped up. I wasn't sure who it was at first (there's almost 1000 songs on it. I can't be expected to know them all, surely!) It's a short acoustic little number by...you guessed it...The Jesus And Mary Chain. Mmm, I was surprised, too.  New York City.

Mollx

A Shortened Shortlist

The short list for the Polaris Music Prize has been announced! (I'm going to act all enthusiastic, as if I've been looking forward to this all year, but in fact I only just found out about it. Hush, don't tell).

This starts off a tiny little bit MOR, but it builds up into something very nice indeed. Hey Rosetta, Seeds

I've only heard the first thirty seconds of this so far, and I like it already. Timber Timbre, Black Water

Dancerock'n'roll! Galaxie, Camouflar

It's taking me a while, surprisingly, but I'm getting to really like this band. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs

I hear some Florence Welch in her voice. Austra, The Choke

Well, this is laidback. Good though. Braids, Native Speaker

The other people up for this prize are Destroyer, Ron Sexsmith, Colin Stetson, and The Weeknd, but I'm not keen on them, so there. But good luck to all of 'em!

Mollx

A Midweek Addiction Update

There comes a point, every week-and-a-half or so, that songs that have been playlisted on Radio 6 Music have wormed their way into my head, and I have to share them just so I can make room for more (read: The new Shonen Knife album is almost out. I thus need to clear out my head in order to fill it with Japanese pop-punk)

I'm really rather addicted to this. The Horrors, Still Life

And even more so to this, so her album is added to my mental list. Lykke Li, Rich Kid's Blues

I find this guy/band's music quite interesting. It's not often you find a band influenced by Eastern European folk (which, I'm lead to believe, involves a lot of brass). Beirut, East Harlem

Mollx

In case you're in need of a release date, Shonen Knife's Free Time is out in Europe on July 11. Those bloody lucky Americans (not bitter, at all) have already had it for AGES!!!!

Label Day: Skybucket Records

Well, with name like that, I had to, didn't I?

And this band describes themselves as "The best American band pretending to be a British band influenced by American music since Guided By Voices". Vulture Whale, Thought Eyes 

Feedback, undernourished keyboards, a singer that sounds like the guy from Pavement, and that whole loud/quiet Pixies thing. 13ghosts, Just Got Dead

They're better than their terrible band name makes them sound, don't you worry. His voice also gets less annoying as it goes on. Taylor And The Puffs, Summer's Comin'

There are free songs also scattered around the Skybucket Band's pages. (See 'em? There, underneath the "Other Bands" box).

Mollx

("Patriotic") Music Monday

You may have noticed it's the fourth of July. Happy Independence Day, dear American readers (Don't bother hiding under the desk. I know you're there. MWAHAHAHA!)

Pretty obvious, and I think I may have already posted this (but I can't be bothered checking). The Strokes, New York City Cops

It's very possible that, unlike many poeple, I prefer early Manics to later Manics. Manic Street Preachers (here including Richey Edwards), Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart

Soul music doesn't appear very often on this here blog. This is because I HATE SOUL! (NO! Back off! I'm joking! Joking, man!) Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, This Land Is Your Land

Mollx

AOTS: Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer

The first thing you notice is that their style of everything-but-the-kitchen-sink avaunt-garde electro-rock is still intact; only more so. Synths fade in and out in waves of glitter, bass and guitar lines bounce around and the drums just follow amiably - and that's only in the 4:37 minutes long first track Soldier's Grin. Boeckner's voice is the only grounding force - without him, you get the feeling that it would all spiral out of control. Call It A Ritual is the exact opposite, with slow, stately rhythms and howls of feedback backing Krug's layered threats ("I said, I'll make the decisions, you just drive"). We're back with Boeckner for Language City, who appears to have calmed down following his co-vocalist's ominous efforts, but not by much. It is more understated than the first track, but given how riotous that was, that doesn't say an awful lot. Bang Your Drum goes back to that original mass of twinkling sound, and Krug's leaning towards the weirder side hasn't grown out yet, it seems, and thank god for such small mercies. Following it, California Dreamer does little to lighten the atmosphere. Its energetic refrain, "I thought I might have heard you on the radio/But the radio waves were like stone" is somewhat at odds with the dark, clammy surroundings, but in doing so stands out as a fantastic track in an album of fantastic tracks. Even the albums "weaker" tracks, like Fine Young Cannibals or An Animal In Your Care, aren't even weak in the traditional sense. They're strong growers,rather than inferior songs. AMZ ends on a more immediate note, though, with Kissing The Beehive and its tight, charging rhythms, and the only Boeckner/Krug duet of the album. It sounds more united than the others, tying off the album with a typically anthemic Wolf Parade classic.

Mollx

Song Of The Week

Today's SOTW is a bit of bleepy coolness: Vetiver, Can't You Tell

Mollx

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Sorry, had to get that out of my system. I've got writers block. AGAIN! ALL GODDAMN WEEK!!!

I suppose all the following had to get something out of their systems too...

Love that bassline. Ain't It A Shame
Well, he's living up to his name. I Put A Spell On You
Hope it didn't! Earth Died Screaming

Mollx